


Communication

by ToastyToaster22



Series: Toasty's Digi AU Dump [2]
Category: Digimon Adventure
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Taichi needs this, Takeru is so young, and so does Takeru, less of an AU and more of a missing scene, the aftermath of Taichi and Yamato's big fight during the Dark Masters Arc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:20:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22308568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToastyToaster22/pseuds/ToastyToaster22
Summary: Takeru had a mission. He was going to help Taichi. He could see the way he hid how upset he was about the fight with Onii-chan. He could do this. He was trying to do his best to prove to the whole group that he was a big kid.So why was Taichi the one comforting him in the end?
Relationships: Takaishi Takeru | T.K. Takaishi & Yagami Taichi | Tai Kamiya
Series: Toasty's Digi AU Dump [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1605736
Comments: 9
Kudos: 62





	Communication

The camp was quiet. Only the sounds of the fire crackling disturbed the silence. Takeru peeked an eye open in the dark. It looked like the others were finally asleep, their breathing even and soft. He sat up, careful not to disturb Patamon. The little orange digimon was snoring away, curled up in Takeru's big hat.

The young boy turned his gaze to their leader. Taichi had insisted on taking the first watch, claiming he wasn't tired at all. By the way the older boy was hunched over, Takeru could tell he had been lying. Even Agumon was snoozing away by his side, completely exhausted by his fight with MetalGarurumon.

Takeru sighed, looking around the camp morosely. He missed his onii-chan. He missed his harmonica, and the way he made Gabumon sleep next to him even when it was plenty warm out. He missed the way they would sit side by side and just relax (if they ever had a moment to). Ever since they had been dropped in this new world, his onii-chan had been angry and jealous. Even more so now that they had returned. Always so jealous of Taichi. Yamato didn't like it when Taichi talked to Takeru, when Taichi cheered him on, when Taichi was the first to make sure he was okay.

Takeru _liked_ Taichi. Taichi was loud, and funny, and nice. Their leader never made him feel like a baby, even when he cried all the time. Taichi was just being _nice_ when he did all those things for Takeru. It wasn't like he was doing to purposefully make Yamato mad. Takeru hated it when his onii-chan was upset. He never talked about it. Takeru never knew what to do. Give him a hug? Leave him alone?

The blond boy shook himself. It wouldn't help to get sad about that now. He wiped his eyes on his sleeve and set his face. There was a reason he had pretended to be asleep. He needed to do something. The seven-year-old (he'd be eight in two weeks) bent and rooted through his backpack as quietly as possible. Finding what he'd been searching for, he straightened up and tiptoed towards the fire. Taichi was staring unseeingly at the dancing flames, completely unaware of the child now standing a few feet away on his right.

"Taichi?" Takeru said softly. He did not want to scare the bushy haired boy, but Taichi gave a start anyway and whipped around to face him. Takeru could see the dark bruises on his friend's face, and under the bruises, an expression of exhaustion and worry.

"Hey, Takeru. What's the matter, can't sleep?" The smile Taichi sent him reminded Takeru of the fake ones his onii-chan had been giving him lately. His stomach clenched uncomfortably. He did not want Taichi to smile like that. The chosen of courage patted the grass next to him, offering Takeru a seat.

He didn't take it.

Instead, he held out the objects in his hands. Taichi looked at them and was surprised that the little boy was offering him some bruise cream and a few band-aids, their wrappers wrinkled with age.

"I'm sorry onii-chan hurt you," he whispered. "I'm sorry he made you fight when you didn't want to. I'm sorry he left us, even when you wanted him to stay."

Taichi's eyes widened, but he frowned at the younger boy.

"Takeru, none of those things are your fault. You shouldn't have to apologize for something Yamato did."

Takeru glanced at his feet, rolling the words around in his head before looking Taichi in the eye.

"Just because I didn't hurt you doesn't mean I can't be sorry you got hurt," he said softly yet firmly.

His leader stared at him, bewildered. But he eventually looked away from those sincere blue eyes and nodded, mesmerized by the flames again. After nearly a full minute of nothing, Takeru huffed and kneeled in the grass. He pulled open one of the band-aids and placed it gently, if not a bit sloppily on one of the cuts on Taichi's knuckles. The older boy stiffened, but did not pull away as Takeru bandaged up his other hand as well. It was mostly little scrapes, but the gesture was clear.

"You don't have to do that; I can take care of myself. I should be the one watching over you guys," Taichi said. His voice wavered the way Takeru's did when he was trying his very hardest not to cry.

The child of hope froze. _I can take care of myself._ That's what he'd been telling onii-chan all this time. Had it hurt his brother to hear it? It hurt him now to hear it from Taichi. He wanted to help Taichi feel better. Takeru hadn't wanted his onii-chan to think he was still a baby, so he had done his best to show him that he was a big kid too. Maybe onii-chan had wanted to help take care of him just because he _wanted_ to, and not because he felt Takeru couldn't manage on his own. Had he actually pushed his onii-chan away?

He had made everything worse. He had been trying to say _look how big I've gotten_ , but what Yamato had heard was _, I don't need you_.

A sudden sob forced his way out of his throat. Taichi surprised him by turning and yanking him into a tight hug, his hair tickling the side of Takeru's face.

"I'm sorry he's gone again. I know you must miss him," Taichi mumbled into the shoulder of his sweatshirt.

Takeru responded by throwing his arms around the other boy's neck, tears pouring unchecked down his cheeks. He was so tired of the fighting, of Yamato being gone. Of Yamato _leaving_. He wished, not for the first time (and that thought made his heart clench) that Taichi was Yamato instead. Takeru wanted to be hugging his onii-chan, and apologizing to him instead of Taichi. But Taichi was here, and Yamato wasn't, so he would take what he could get.

A sniffle startled Takeru out of his miserable thoughts. He pushed himself back, kneeling in Taichi's lap and staring, horrified at the sight of tears on his fearless leader's face. This was not what he came over here to do. Desperate to fix his mistake, the little boy grabbed for the bruise cream. He hastily scrubbed the tears from his own face, and shakily tried to clean them from Taichi's before clumsily smearing some cream on Taichi's largest bruise. He mostly missed, his hands trembling the way they were. He tried a second time, but it dripped on Taichi's nose, and there was somehow some in his hair already. Takeru's small chest heaved with his choked breathing. He was ruining _everything_. _He had made Taichi_ _cry and Taichi was…Taichi was…_

Laughing? Why was Taichi laughing?

The chosen of courage was shielding himself with his hands from the onslaught of cream the smaller boy was covering him in. There were still tears on his cheeks, but the older boy was chuckling uncontrollably.

"Wow, okay. I get it, my face looks like crap." He sounded amused.

Takeru was frozen in his lap, fingers still dripping with cream. He was so confused. He still felt awful, but Taichi was smiling at him and it no longer looked so forced.

"Man, where did you even get this stuff? It smells so weird." The leader huffed out a final laugh and tried to rub some of the extra cream off his face.

Takeru couldn't move. Everything he was feeling was just too much for his small body to handle. Another wave of tears cascaded down his face. Taichi let out a huge breath, looking fondly at the kid. He pulled Takeru in for another hug, but this one was much more gentle than the last. They stayed that way until Takeru's tears slowed. The fire was close to going out, but neither of them moved to add more wood.

"Feel any better?" Taichi asked quietly.

Takeru nodded sleepily.

"Me too. Thanks for coming to check on me."

The exhausted child yawned and rubbed at his eyes. He sat back on the grass and gazed in confusion at his friend.

"But I made you cry..."

Taichi waved his hand.

"Nah, you didn't. I would've cried even if you didn't come over." He smiled down at Takeru. "You just made sure I didn't cry all by myself, so thank you."

Takeru frowned at the thought of Taichi crying to himself while the rest of them slept. There was a lot he wanted to say to that, but he found himself shrugging instead. His head was drooping in the same direction his eyelids were. The fire at his back was incredibly comforting and the grass felt soft under his fingers…

When he awoke, the sun was just peeking through the trees. The camp was still. Turning his head, he saw Patamon half spilled out of his hat, sleeping peacefully. Turning the other way, he was blocked by a warm wall of scaly orange. Happiness filled his belly and he rolled to lay back to back with the small dinosaur. Taichi didn't need to take care of him. He wanted to.

And Takeru would let him.


End file.
